Letter to the Editor: Commends Oak Ridge for positive actions

Friday

Oct 5, 2012 at 3:00 PMOct 5, 2012 at 3:48 PM

The other day I was visiting friends in Oak Ridge, and decided to ride my bicycle from their house on Delaware Avenue all the way to Haw Ridge Park, where I gleefully hopped onto the mountain bike trails there. I'm writing to thank all those who have made this fairly safe connection from town neighborhoods possible: including Tte city of Oak Ridge and the Recreation and Parks Department. This year we excitedly watched the city complete the last link of the Melton Lake Greenway, the section under the Edgemoor Road bridge, even during the economic downturn! That was the right thing to do, giving people jobs, and now providing recreation, stress relief, and exercise to anybody who wants it. In the past, I haven’t felt safe to bike to Haw Ridge because of a very fast moving and dangerous roadway — Edgemoor Road, so we had to waste gas, add traffic congestion, and trash the air with our fumes.

To the Editor:

The other day I was visiting friends in Oak Ridge, and decided to ride my bicycle from their house on Delaware Avenue all the way to Haw Ridge Park, where I gleefully hopped onto the mountain bike trails there. I'm writing to thank all those who have made this fairly safe connection from town neighborhoods possible: including Tte city of Oak Ridge and the Recreation and Parks Department. This year we excitedly watched the city complete the last link of the Melton Lake Greenway, the section under the Edgemoor Road bridge, even during the economic downturn! That was the right thing to do, giving people jobs, and now providing recreation, stress relief, and exercise to anybody who wants it. In the past, I haven’t felt safe to bike to Haw Ridge because of a very fast moving and dangerous roadway — Edgemoor Road, so we had to waste gas, add traffic congestion, and trash the air with our fumes.

My husband and I recently chose to move elsewhere, but with the completion of this biking link, as well as the other positive changes happening here perhaps we should have chosen Oak Ridge? As a first generation Oak Ridger, I left after graduating from high school. I was increasingly unhappy to return for visits and see some of the poor choices made by past town councils, like the priority given to Walmart to control the Main Street town center, and the decline of the small neighborhood markets and Historic Jackson Square, and especially the rotting of the Alexander Inn, which was like a castle on the hill for me as a child. The inability of those with power to recognize the uniqueness of Oak Ridge, the things that make it stand out from other cities, was frustrating. Too many cities have become exact reproductions of other cities; nothing but chain stores and chain restaurants, with a noisy main street built for cars and not people as the heart of the city. Boring!

It seems that Oak Ridge has good leadership at the top, and also has a very effective police chief, and that the city is cracking down on crack houses, junk in peoples yards, junk vehicles, and slum landlords. Awesome!

Perhaps these positive changes will persuade all the commuters to put down roots here, as well.